Jazz a way of life

MANILA, Philippines - Singing is a way of life. If someone has been loyal to it, he will reap creative fruits and endless possibilities of churning out song after song. Dianne Reeves knows this by heart. That’s why her career is full of nothing but better days.

Dianne, known to most Pinoys as the voice behind the hit Better Days, was in Manila recently to grace the Philippine International Jazz and Arts Festival. Her first visit was in 1981 and it was followed in the ‘90s.

During the Rockwell Tent concert, Dianne had to feel what the audience wanted her to sing and made things happen. Her appearance was Dianne’s way of re-connecting with the Filipino audience.

The event with ABS-CBN as media partner also saw Tots Tolentino, Spyro Gyra and Mike Stern.

“I love live performances,” shares the four-time Grammy winner. “What you have on the record is just one performance. I love the interaction between me and my musicians. I also love doing recording but a live performance is much stronger to me.”

It is not surprising why a great deal of her career is spent touring the US and the world.

“Music is a very powerful language. The first time I was here, I was blown away (because of the different voices I heard). It is powerful because you don’t have to speak the language of the people (to understand the music). It is a soul to soul exchange. That’s what I love about it.”

Apart from the Philippines, Dianne went to Japan, India, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and China to grace jazz festivals and to share her musical gift. However, Dianne has also tried other genres of music such as R&B, pop and world music.

“I think all my records have shown that,” clears Dianne over stereotypes. “I believe in music without boundaries. When people call me or think that I’m a jazz singer, it is kinda limiting. Jazz is an opportunity or passport to many genres of music.”

Asked what’s with jazz that Dianne sticks to it?

“Jazz music, to me, is the same with freedom,” she says. “It allows you to improvise. It allows you to change from night to night. It allows you to make the story more real and believable. The interaction between me and my musician is the key to a good performance. It allows you to find your style with your own voice and with your own approach.”

Dianne attributes her success by continuously doing her music. She has to be daring with it.

As an artist, Dianne is remembered for her improvisational ease and storytelling instincts. She says the storytelling comes from her beginning and her family. A jazz singer should possess a certain flexibility to improvise and arrange music in a different way.    

When she is out of the recording studios, Dianne holds master classes and clinics for aspiring jazz singers. “I’m pretty good,” she describes herself as a teacher. “I love it. There has to be discipline among students, especially in teaching them how to use their voice and how to make it be there with them and stay there for the rest of their lives.”

She also teaches them how to put their own ideas, make them their own and feel comfortable with their music.

Has the message of the 1987 song Better Days changed?

“In every season of my life, it has become something totally different, especially now that we have an African-American president,” says Dianne.

She adds the song also means to work hard and to be clear to the places one wants to be in. As the ditty suggests, you can’t be patient without patience.